Some type of portable communication device, such as a cellular telephone or Blackberry type device, are carried by most people. In order to take advantage of the lowest rates, some people even carry more than one device (e.g., a cell phone and a Blackberry).
There is a trend toward increasing the functionality of such handheld electronic devices. In the case of cellular telephones, increased functionality may include adding chat or e-mail capabilities or providing the ability to take and playback photographs and/or video clips. Adding more functionality often leads to increased components and/or circuit elements which often corresponds to increased space requirements, which is at odds with the desire to make devices smaller.
In order to improve the comfort of carrying wireless devices, it is often useful to adjust the dimensions of such devices. One of the dimensions for which there is some desire to further reduce size includes depth. Historically, a reduction in depth has been at least partially achieved by minimizing the depth of each of the individual components contained in a particular component stack up. While this is a valid approach for reducing the overall depth, at any given time, there may be limits as to how far the depth of a particular component may be reduced.
It may be desirable to adjust dimensioning of a handheld electronic device in a particular direction by rearranging one or more of the components and/or repositioning a hinge assembly and corresponding hinge axis. Rearranging one or more of the components and/or repositioning a hinge assembly and corresponding hinge axis may allow some of the components to be shifted relative to other components, with the potential overall effect of achieving an aggregate dimension in one or more directions, such as depth, which meets the desired results. The repositioned hinge assembly may also facilitate one-handed opening of a thin clamshell-type device.